JH Community School and MWO celebrate Free Speech Week

Jackson Hole, WY – During the week of October 19, 2015 I spent several days at the Jackson Hole Community School teaching freedom of expression in honor of Free Speech Week promoted by the Media Law Center.

I met with a class of smart and level-headed high school seniors in Amy Fulwyler’s International Issues class discussing free speech issues and launching an Instagram Competition #jhfreespeech in honor of Free Speech week.

I took a very non-scholarly approach to group discussions and used my own experience as a publisher of an outspoken alternative weekly to lead discussions on topics such as: the basic components of freedom expression, the college newspaper coverage of the Isla Vista mass murders of 2013, offensive speech and what it is, protecting (or not protecting) provocative content like the Mohammed Cartoons, the Westboro Church and the KKK.

I also invited a former reporter of mine and now attorney, Ed Bushnell, to visit and discuss a libel lawsuit our newspaper fought (and won) back in 2005 and he also discussed a local lawsuit wherein anti-abortion protesters (Operation Save America) carrying graphic images on the town square won a Wyoming supreme court ruling and settled with the Town of Jackson. There was a great discussion on this local case not only because the students actually witnessed it unfolding in their own town, but the elements of the case happen to be a textbook-perfect example of how these First Amendment cases are won.

We received 17 Instagram submissions depicting “free speech in Jackson Hole”. The students in the class and other officials voted on the winning Instagram #jhfreespeech photo and here it is:

Here are some other submissions;